The life and letters of Nathan Smith, M.B., M.D

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Foreword

It gives me great pleasure to fulfil what I consider a sacred trust, by contributing to the Medical School of Yale University a brief sketch of the remarkable life of Dr. Nathan Smith, with many of his heretofore unpublished letters and extracts from his ledgers kept at Dartmouth and Yale.

No attempt has been made in this compilation to dilate upon the history or to do more than connect the letters with the various incidents of the life of Dr. Smith by arranging them in chronological order.

Since I have been the guardian of his valuable papers, a steady growth of interest has been manifested in them and in their author, who is now recognized by the medical profession to have been in medicine one of the greatest men of his day in America, a pioneer, who made important innovations in the treatment of diseases, raising the standard of medical science from a very low estate — and who in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties founded medical schools where he taught hundreds and perhaps thousands of men, of whom many have become shining lights in the medical profession.

This biography will show that Dr. Nathan Smith was practically the founder of the Yale Medical School in the year 1813, for he not only supplied the first lectureships in the Theory and Practice of Physic, of Surgery and of Obstetrics, but, by his own personal viil Foreword

application to the Legislature of Connecticut, obtained a grant of twenty thousand dollars to start the medical buildings.

It will also be shown that it was during Dr. Smith's sojourn at New Haven that he accomplished his best work in teaching, writing, and attending the sick.

In consideration of Dr. Nathan Smith's important connection with the Medical School of Yale University, there would appear to be no better way of celebrating the Centennial Anniversary of its opening than in honoring its distinguished founder by putting into some permanent form an account of his remarkable life and a collection of his writings as a fitting memorial to his beloved memory.

In the summer of 19 10 it was my privilege to visit the early home of Dr. Nathan Smith at Cornish, N. H., and some of the colleges connected with his work.

At Dartmouth, Prof. John K. Lord loaned me some interesting letters written by Dr. Smith, and Dr. Gilman D. Frost showed great kindness in taking me through the old medical building for which Dr. Smith gave the land, and in which in 1798 he started the first medical school in New Hampshire by filling all the chairs himself.

At Yale, Dr. Wm. H. Carmalt took pains to help on my work and by his continued kindness has done much to further its completion.

I feel that I owe thanks to many who have aided me in one way or another. Mrs. Nathan Smith Lincoln and other ladies of the family have contributed letters and photographs, and Drs. Frederick C. Shattuck,

Foreword ix

William H. Welch, Samuel C. Chew, of the University of Maryland, James A. Spalding, Alfred Mitchell, of Bowdoin College, and Samuel Theobald, of Johns Hopkins University, have all aided by supplying letters or giving permission to quote from their writings. To no two friends do I feel more gratitude than to the late Dr. John Taylor Gilman Nichols, who encouraged me to compile the biography, and to Dr. Henry M. Hurd, without whose substantial interest the work might have received no further recognition.

I have also been aided by Dr. Nathan Ryno Smith and Dr. Eugene McEvers Van Ness, who gave much time and the benefit of their medical knowledge to examining the manuscripts of Dr. Nathan Smith and to deciphering his very difficult handwriting. For some of the early accounts of Cornish I am indebted to Mrs. Laura Chase Smith and her very interesting history of her grandfather, Bishop Philander Chase. Mr. Carroll Smith, of Albany, kindly contributed items from the genealogy of the family.

I am deeply grateful to Mrs. Robert Nelson Corwin for her very careful editorial work and also for the addition of many of the footnotes and a few historical items of much interest.

Emily A. Smith.

Table Of Contents

Chapter Page

I. The Landing of the "Diligent" in 1638 . . 1

II. Exciting adventures of Nathan Smith's early days. War with Indians. He becomes a teacher. Assists at a surgical operation and decides to study medicine 4

CHAPTER FIRST The Landing of the "Diligent" in 1638

Within a few months of the ordering of a school or college at Newetowne, and in the memorable year when the name of Newetowne was changed, henceforward to be called Cambridge, no less than twenty ships plowed their way across the unusually stormy waters of the Atlantic, bringing to the shores of America at least three thousand persons, many of whom were men and women of quality and estate who were seeking freedom from religious persecution and who were to be the founders of the great Republic of the United States, — among them men wisely called "the greatest geniuses for government that the world ever saw embarked together in one common cause."

One of these twenty ships was the good "Diligent" of Ipswich, which, on August 10, 1638, safely landed her cargo of one hundred and thirty-three souls, brought from Old Hingham, England, to the New Hingham in New England. Some of these men were destined to become important factors in laying the firm foundation for prosperity and peace upon which future men were to build. There were the Gilmans, Lincolns, Cushings, Coopers, Folsoms and others.

Many of these families had been the parishioners of the Rev. Robert Peck, under whose leadership they had come to the land where religious toleration existed for all. Among the one hundred and thirty-three passengers of the "Diligent" was a Mr. Henry Smith, who, with his wife, Judith, their three sons and two daughters, three men servants and two maid servants, was from Hargham Hall, Norfolk County, England. English histories refer to this Henry Smith as one of the prominent men who emigrated to New England on account of religious controversies then existing.

Mr. Henry Smith's five children were all born and educated in England, and, as the term "Mr." indicates, he himself had been a college graduate, and in the new country became a useful citizen and was, in 1641, a representative in General Court.

His son, Henry, Jr., called Ensign Henry, a man of superior culture and an engineer, surveyed the Rehoboth North Purchase, Attleboro, Mass., and Cumberland, R. L, with Mr. Carpenter; also the Douams Purchase, Barrington, R. I., and many other places; he, likewise, was a representative in General Court in 1662.

Ensign Henry Smith's son, called Deacon Henry, married Rebecca Atwood and they were the parents of John Smith, whose second wife, Elizabeth (Ide) Hills, was the mother of Nathan Smith of this history.

The family of the first Henry Smith removed, not very long after their landing, from Hingham to Rehoboth, where it took root and flourished for four generations.

Here, on September 30, 1762, a son, Nathan, was born to John Smith and Elizabeth, his wife. They subsequently removed to Chester, Vt., but the exact time or cause for this step is not known. Accounts of the boyhood days of Nathan Smith indicate that his father was a pioneer among the farmers of that district.

Chapter Second

The youthful days of Nathan Smith were spent upon his father's farm, aiding in the usual duties in garden and fields and in the care of the domestic animals; but there were times when he had experiences exciting enough to suit the most ambitious taste for adventure. His hunting and fishing excursions were in the wilds of the frontier lands, where it is said that on one occasion he was lost for three days in one of the dense forests where lofty pines sometimes reached to the height of 270 feet, and the thick undergrowth in places often concealed wild beasts as well as hostile and treacherous Indians. It may well be imagined that under such circumstances as then surrounded the young Nathan, he must have acquired very early in life great courage and self-reliance, especially as, beneath the natural love which boys usually have for sports, he possessed from the first uncommon force of character and a great ambition to acquire knowledge and use it for the benefit of others. It is recorded of him that at the close of the Revolutionary War, when still a youth, he served with the Vermont militia to protect the inhabitants against the incursions of the Indians, and at one time "narrowly escaped a bullet aimed at him by a son of the forest from his place of ambush." Evidently his military conduct gained approval, for at the age of eighteen years he was promoted from the ranks to a captaincy in his regiment.

A little later we hear of him as a teacher in a district school, showing that, although a farmer's boy, his early education had not been neglected by his father, who was descended from cultured people.

While engaged in this work of teaching, his interest was aroused on hearing that Dr. Goodhue, a noted surgeon of the time, was coming from Putney, Vt., to amputate the leg of a man in Chester. Together with others, young Smith repaired to the spot to watch the operation and when Dr. Goodhue asked if any one present would assist him by holding the leg, Nathan Smith stepped boldly forward and with unflinching nerve gave his aid, even so far as to tie the arteries without a tremor. After the operation was completed and many had left the house, young Smith expressed to Dr. Goodhue his intense desire to study medicine, proposing to begin as soon as the school term should close. But after questioning him as to his acquirements, Dr. Goodhue wisely advised more preparation as a foundation for the all-important profession of medicine and surgery, and told the ambitious youth that he must be qualified to enter the Freshman class at Harvard before beginning medical studies.

After a year had passed, when probably the doctor had forgotten all about his aspiring young assistant at Chester, he was surprised one day by the arrival of Nathan Smith at his home, claiming his promise to act as his instructor. Dr. Goodhue found that this remarkable young man had fulfilled all of the conditions which he had made by studying industriously during the year with the Rev. Mr. Whiting of Rockingham, Vt., and, persuaded of rare characteristics in Nathan Smith, then just twenty-two years of age, Dr. Goodhue offered him a home and medical tuition in return for certain work necessary in the country home of a physician. Three years were thus passed, during which time a strong intimacy and lifelong friendship grew up between the instructor and his pupil.

In the year 1787, when twenty-five years of age, Nathan Smith began the practice of medicine at Cornish, N. H., before he had received a degree from any of the three medical schools then existing in the United States, this plan of entering the medical profession being customary in that day.

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Chapter Third

Beautiful Cornish, N. H., Where Dr. Nathan Smith Began the Practice of Medicine

In order to understand the early life of Nathan Smith at Cornish, it is necessary to know something of the state of the country in that neighborhood when he began his work there.

Only about thirty years had elapsed since Dudley Chase and Dyer Spalding, with a party of workmen, had gone from Fort No. 4 (Charlestown), then the northernmost settlement in the State of New Hampshire, to a well-chosen spot sixteen miles up the Connecticut River, where they were to fell the great forest trees, clear the ground and start the little town of Cornish. A thrillingly interesting account of the undertaking is given in the beautiful history of Dudley Chase's son, Philander, who became the first Bishop of Ohio and Illinois. It is stated that the brave and lovely wife of Dudley Chase, Mistress Allace Corbett, was so anxious to share the companionship and perils of her husband in this enterprise that she prevailed upon Mr. Dyer Spalding, who had returned to the fort for provisions, to take her and her seven little children in a canoe to join her husband before the men had found time even to build a log cabin for their shelter; but a tent of long strips of bark was soon made by the loving hands of the men for her and her little ones, and no doubt the heroic woman was able to add much to the comfort of these, the first settlers of Cornish. Dudley's brother Jonathan and their father, Judge Samuel Chase, of Aquilla's family of Newbury, soon followed him from Sutton, Mass., their native town, to Cornish, and the settlement became especially identified with the Chases and Spaldings.

The first thirty years of the existence of Cornish had brought many stirring events and changes not only to the settlers of the little town but to the whole country; for during that time freedom from England was obtained by the Revolutionary War. The inhabitants of Cornish had contributed their share in bringing this to pass; marching under the leadership of General Jonathan Chase were many neighbors, including Jonathan's venerable father, Samuel Chase, judge of the County of Cheshire, N. H., already seventy years of age. This regiment marched from Cornish to Bennington, Vt., and to Saratoga, N. Y., and was present at the surrender of General Burgoyne. But to the residents of the little town of Cornish, so far inland as to be removed even from the news of the great battles, Indians as enemies were even more to be dreaded than enemies from foreign lands, for at that time savages infested the neighboring forests and were constantly ready to attack.

In 1780, just seven years before Nathan Smith came to Cornish, Royalton, Vt., only a few miles away, had been burned and destroyed and seven men of Randolph, its near neighbor, had been captured and kept prisoners by the Indians for two years. But in this heroic age, the courage and energy of the pioneers were boundless, — the men, like the builders of the walls of Jerusalem in Nehemiah's time, had their implements of defense always at hand while with a "mind to work" they cleared the land, built their homes, made their own farm implements and attended to their flocks and herds. The women, no less busy, carded wool, made cloth by the aid of the loom and the spinning wheel, knitted stockings and attended to the pickling and preserving of meats and fruits as well as to the cooking of the food. Not many idle moments could have been spent by these early settlers of the country and yet they seem to have had time for the education of their children. Four of the sons of Dudley Chase graduated from Dartmouth, while Allace, one of his daughters, is said to have been able to repeat the whole of Homer's Iliad and to have kept up with her brothers in their studies at Dartmouth.

But this period of the country's history was so marked in many districts by great ignorance and superstition in regard to the care of the sick, that the presence of a well-trained young physician among them received a kindly and hearty welcome from the families at Cornish, and a special intimacy grew up between the Chases and Spaldings and Nathan Smith. Young Lyman Spalding, then a lad of twelve or fifteen years, became his ardent admirer, and from that time was so influenced by his example and good work that he resolved to enter the medical profession, in which he afterwards rose to distinction.

We are not informed as to Dr. Smith's reason for selecting this Cornish region for his professional work, but, as artists and authors of this day have discovered, no one could visit the neighborhood without being impressed by its natural advantages and beauty.

Nestled at the very foot of Mt. Ascutney, on a broad bend of the Connecticut River, is the little town of Windsor, Vt., which, by means of a most picturesque old covered bridge, spanning the river, is so connected with Cornish that the two villages are practically one. From this bridge, through a wonderful New England forest, a short road leads up to the part of Cornish once owned by General Jonathan Chase and his family, and it is evidently here that Dr. Smith spent much of his time.

Two years of practice at Cornish but served to impress upon the young physician the importance of further knowledge in the great field of medicine and surgery. Accordingly he gave up his practice there to go to Cambridge, where he attended "the lectures of Dr. John Warren on Anatomy and Surgery, Dr. Aaron Dexter on Chemistry and Materia Medica, and Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, of the Medical Department, on Theory and Practice of Medicine ; besides the medical lectures he attended those of Professor Samuel Webber on Natural Philosophy, in the College; and these together probably constituted his first course of lectures. At the Harvard Commencement in 1790, he took the degree of M.B. (Bachelor of Medicine), the only one in a class of four, and the fourth graduate in the Medical School of Harvard."1 It was on that occasion that he

1 The statement stands as quoted in Dr. Hubbard's discourse, and he evidently derived his facts from Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. The

The Episcopal Church at Cornish

The Graveyard Next to the Episcopal Church

The grave marked is that of Elizabeth, the first wife of Dr. Nathan Smith read an "Inaugural Dissertation on the Circulation of the Blood," which was received with high approbation and published at the request of the faculty.

Immediately after the receipt of his diploma, Dr. Smith returned to his friends and professional work at Cornish, where his friendship with the Chases was cemented by his marriage on January 16, 1791, with Elizabeth, one of the daughters of General Jonathan and his first wife, Thankful Sherman Chase. But his happiness with his young wife was of short duration, for she died on April 14, 1793, leaving no children. In those early days, however, it was universally felt that "it is not good that a man should be alone"; exigencies of home life demanded that each man should provide himself a helpmeet and early marriages were the order of the day. When death separated even the most loving couples, second and third marriages were often contracted.

Such being the custom it is not surprising to learn that some time after the death of Elizabeth, Dr. Smith began to realize a growing interest in the bright and gifted Sarah, a half-sister of his wife, and daughter of the General and his second wife, Sarah (Hall) Chase.

account in the Harvard Quinquennial Catalogue does not, however, bear out this statement, and application to the authorities at Harvard reveals the fact that, since the writing of the above, three names have been added to the list of graduates in medicine, making a showing of two names, instead of one, to each of the first three classes. "Since 1875, and especially at the time the Quinquennial Catalogue was translated from Latin to English, the Corporation records were carefullyexamined and the three names added to the classes of 1788, 1789, 1790."

This young girl had been a mere child at the time of her sister's marriage, on which occasion she is said, in her admiration for Dr. Smith, to have pushed her way in beside him and stood for a while between the bride and groom.

Having fixed upon his choice, Dr. Smith determined upon asking of her parents her hand in marriage. The letter by which Dr. Smith addressed Sarah is so characteristic of the man, being such a rare combination of vehemence in love and straightforwardness in business, that it cannot be omitted here, and is as follows :

"Cornish, N. H., January 22, 1794.

Sally :

You will excuse the precipitancy with which I proceed in my endeavors to accomplish my connection with you. I expected last evening to have set off for Hanover this morning, and I could not endure the least uncertainty till I returned, therefore I discovered my wishes respecting you to your Sire and Marm last evening, and they have generously given me leave to marry with you.

I hope I shall never meet with your disapprobation. Transported with Joy and Expectation I am

Your sincere Lover

Nathan Smith.

Miss Sally H. Chase, Cornish."

Clearly Sally had already been led to acknowledge a willingness to accede to his desire before her "Sire"

General Jonathan Chase

Father of Mrs. Nathan Smith and "Marm" were approached. Their consent having now been obtained, Nathan Smith and Sarah Hall Chase were married in September, 1794, and this marriage proved a happy one in every way, Sarah being a true helpmeet in the home of her husband.

By his union with her Dr. Smith became connected with a large circle of New England families of prominence, although none of them were very rich in this world's goods. Sarah was the granddaughter of the Rev. David and Elizabeth Prescott Hall on her mother's side, and of Judge Samuel and Mary Dudley Chase on her father's.

The Chases had by this time acquired by thrift and economy what in that day might have been considered at least a competency. They had built substantial houses in Cornish, where they were able to enjoy great comfort, and had also extended their possessions in lands and promoted other settlements in their state. Dr. Smith, the only physician in the neighborhood, soon acquired a large practice, making his rounds to distant places either on horseback or by stage. On the 27th of June, 1795, a son was born to Dr. and Mrs. Smith, to whom they gave the name "David Solon Chase Hall Smith," all family names except the Solon, which came from Ossian, — evidently a favorite poet of the time, — and this became the name by which this son was always called.

As a devoted husband and father, with a good practice and every prospect of happiness, it would have been but natural for Dr. Smith to content himself with life in Cornish, enjoying his domestic felicity. But the feeling that fellow beings were suffering and dying on account of the prevailing ignorance of the science of medicine, gave him no rest, knowing as he did that numbers of ambitious young men lacked only the opportunity of acquiring good medical instruction to fit them, as educated physicians, to become blessings to humanity.

Mrs. Jonathan Chase

Mother of Mrs. Nathan Smith

CHAPTER FOURTH The Founding of the Dartmouth Medical

School. Dr. Smith's Voyage to Edinburgh,

Where He Continues His Medical

Studies

Strong in the determination to provide opportunities for this needed instruction, Dr. Smith applied to the trustees of Dartmouth College, at their annual meeting in August, 1796, for their approbation of a plan he had devised for establishing a Professorship of the Theory and Practice of Medicine in connection with Dartmouth. His plan was fully approved by President John Wheelock; the scheme, novel and far-reaching, was favorably received and discussed by the trustees, a resolution complimentary to the character and energy of Dr. Smith passed, and hope given for future encouragement; but it was voted to postpone final action upon the proposition for a year. This unsatisfactory response to his generous offer might have entirely discouraged an ordinary man, but Dr. Smith was only stimulated to new effort and determined to persevere in what he hoped might benefit many sufferers, for the only three schools then in the United States where medicine was taught were those of the University of Pennsylvania, the Medical School of Columbia College and the Medical School of Harvard College.

In the absence of railroads, the distances to be traveled made it almost impossible for young men of moderate means to attend these schools, and one desiring to study medicine was compelled to apprentice himself to a physician who would instruct him in return for some menial work as office helper or farm hand. In consequence of the lack of proper instruction, few physicians of that day were at all qualified to attend the sick.

Dr. Smith, with his usual energy and far-sightedness, decided to utilize the months of waiting for the trustees of Dartmouth to accept his offer, by acquiring for himself more knowledge of his profession, and, in order to get the best instruction that could be had, he concluded to become a student at the University of Edinburgh, then one of the most noted medical schools of the world. Almost insurmountable difficulties beset this undertaking, for not only had he to part with his family, friends, and patients, but crossing the ocean in midwinter on a rather small sailing vessel was attended by many perils, and his very limited means made it necessary for him to borrow a greater part of the money to pay the way. His integrity of character was, however, so well established that the Hon. Sanford Kingsbury and other friends willingly loaned a sufficient sum to cover whatever part of the expense Dr. Smith himself could not provide.

Plans for the long journey were made with a view to the greatest economy, and every expense considered and eliminated as far as possible. The horse was sold and the proceeds used toward defraying the cost of the passage to Glasgow, this route being selected in preference to that by way of London because the price of the voyage to London was $170, while Glasgow could be reached for $75.

Great care and self-denial attended all the arrangements for this journey. He wrote to Dr. Lyman Spalding before sailing: "Respecting my voyage I am not so well provided for as I could wish, but must put my trust in God and not in filthy lucre." His farewell letters to his wife were full of tender solicitude for her and his little son, although he took comfort in knowing that they would be well cared for by her father and mother.

Just before sailing from Boston he wrote the following:

"On Board the Bark Hope, December 17, 1796.

Now for the last time, until I arrive in Europe, I address you. I have lately sent you two letters, which I hope you will receive without delay. I have in them expressed my love and constancy to you, and my tenderness for the dear little Solon. All my anxiety is for my family. I fear no danger but on their account. I have been very fortunate since I left home, all excepting some delay in sailing, which I do not much regret, as I have been able to procure letters and other advantages in this town which I should not have done if I had sailed immediately. Do, my dear, remember me. You are ever on my mind. I am sure I shall ever be happy if I live to return and find you and Solon alive and well. Do be careful of our dear little son. I shall keep you in mind, and hope to return happy. It is my constant prayer, and if good intentions can have any influence on our fortune, I am sure I shall succeed.

P. S. — We expect a fair wind in the morning, and a pleasant voyage. There are four passengers on board, all very agreeable. The vessel is as good and safe as ever sailed from Boston, a fine Captain and crew, all very obliging and civil. I lack for nothing to make me happy but your company, with Solon."

The bark "Hope" left with her five passengers, captain and crew on December 18, 1796. After landing and gaining what he could at Glasgow, Dr. Smith proceeded to Edinburgh, where for three months he attended the lectures of Monro, Secundus, on Anatomy and Surgery, and of Black on Chemistry.

A letter to his wife from Edinburgh shows the depth of his affection for his family and what a sacrifice he was making in separating himself from his home in order to accomplish the great work that he hoped to do for humanity. Evidently when he wrote the following letter his homesickness was so intense that he felt tempted to give up the struggle and return to America in the early spring, but his strong will and great ambition came to the rescue and he bravely persevered and eventually decided to remain abroad until September.

of Nathan Smith ig

Addressed to Mrs. Sally H. Smith Cornish,

State of New Hampshire.

"My dear Sally:

I am quite homesick tho' very well on all other accounts. You cannot, and I hope you never will by similar experience, be sensible of the anxiety I have suffered since I left my home and family. Tho' I am every day surrounded with new and interesting scenes and am treated with great kindness and attention by the people here, yet my thoughts continually turn on you and our dear little son, whose name I cannot write without shedding tears on it. I imagine a thousand evils ready to befall him. I see him every night in my dreams and often wake myself by attempting to grasp him, but he always eludes my fond embrace and leaves me to mourn his absence. Do my dear, if he be still living, and I dare not think otherwise, do, I say, watch over him with maternal care, kiss him for me a thousand times each day and tell him that his papa is coming soon.